Uganda and now Kenya!

Arghh! last time i tried to post this it didn't do it and i ran out of time. Sooo, this will be a long one!

After the gorilla trek we headed out of Rwanda, stopping at the genocide memorial in Kigali on our way. It was a beautiful testament to all the lives lost, not only in Rwanda but in other similar situations throughout the world in recent history. The people of Rwanda has recovered so well but the videos of survivors make you realize that a lot of people are suffering quite severely though they don't show it. Once out of Rwanda we spent an unmemorable night in Kabale (note: I wrote Kibale before and was confused why there were no chimps nearby where we were. realized after looking at a map that i was confusing spelling and they are different places. doh!). From Kabale we took a day trip to Lake Bunyoni to relax in the sun and see a pygmy village. Sadly the trip wasn't exactly as planned. First, the trip to the pygmies was an hour each way in a motor boat. Then there was a wet climb up a hill to get to the pgymies. Everyone had a rough time climbing the slope in their flip flops...except me thanks to my very unsexy but totally functional Crocs :) I got great photos and video of the pygmies who sang and danced. I was hesitant to do the whoel community viewing thing, but it's a good source of income for this tribe so I felt ok with it. After that the trip got a bit more crazy. Once back on the back the waves picked up splashing us in the boat. Then the wind got colder and it began pouring! I lost my hat and another pair of sunglasses in the wind and we all hunkered down til we could pull over to a small village and hide under a hut's roof for about 30 min til the rain calmed down. Some of the girls whined incessantly but everyone else just chalked it up to travel adventure :) After that we got back to a beautiful lodge on the lake, dried by a fire and had a wonderful dinner of roast pig and crawfish. I think the rain and cold made the fire and dinner just that much better.

From there we headed to Queen Elizabeth park. we had been warned that most of the wildlife was killed during Amin's time but we saw tons of elephants, buffalo, hippoes and hyena and a lion on our safari drive and river cruise. You could hear the hippoes from camp, especially their snorting as they wandered closeby at night. We wweren't allowed outside of camp to make sure we didn't get "chomped" and at night we had to make sure we walked slow and were well lit so we didn't surprise any strays that might have gotten past the poor fences. Also met some awesome women on the boat cruise who worked with an orphanage in Uganda. One woman was adopting her third daughter and they were just a breath of fresh air - so optimistic and happy and not the backpacker type.

After that we drove through Kampala where we dropped off Nathalie and another tour girl. Nath headed to Nairobi for time with Di and some shopping before her flight home. Hoping that all worked out safely and Nath's not too scarred from a month's travel with me :)

From there we stopped in Jinja for some amazing class five rafting. It was grat in a terrifying way. The raft guides were both Ugandan and ex-pat and it was much like being with outdoorsy communities back in the states. We have some great pics (again hope to post some soon!) and maybe even some video. That night the rest of the group got smashed and they all were like the living dead the next day. i went to bed early and got in some internet (crashed before this blog was posted) and clothes washing in. Good stuff. Just nice to read and relax near the Nile and look out of the rapids.

Last night we spent in Eldoret, an unmemorable town but a great campsite. Tax write off for sure as this place is in the middle of nowhere but incredibly plush with a pool and huge cavrnous bar. They made us an Indian dinner (the owner is Indian) and we shared beers around a wood fire that piped through a 20 ft high chimney. Very cool and relaxing. Now today we've driven to Lake Naivasha. The town is pretty ugly but the lake should be great. More wildlife and lazy reading time. Should be back with more tomorrow and maybe some tidbits i left out from this post. Hope y'all are good :)

Gorillas!!!

We headed to Volcanoes National Park early this morning. It was the nicest, newest park entrance I've ever seen. Again...impressed. Our guide was wonderful and it was a nice chance to unearth some of my education which is so rarely useful :)

Anyway, after about an hour's hike through this beautiful jungle the trackers called in to our guide that they knew where our family was. There was one silverback, some females and 5 babies. It was just amazing. Everything I'd hoped for. Two females walked right through our group, one sitting down about a foot from me. Then the babies played for a bit and they all settled down to nap. Not to sound mellowdramatic, but I could see how Dian Fossey was willing to give her life for them. They are really that incredible. I've got great video and photos which I will upload at some point :) Oh and the view from this mountainside, stunning. I don't even know what else to write. Oh, we lucked out completely regarding weather. It was clear the hike up and only a light drizzle as we sat with the gorillas. Then once we got back under tree cover it began hailing very hard, up until we got to the edge of the park. From there we walked across some farm land, and after about 400 m it stopped, and didn't start up again until we were under cover at the park entry. Really good luck.

So right, Rwanda has been phenomenal and I would recommend a trip to anyone. We leave tomorrow for the Genocide Memorial near Kigali, then back to Uganda. I certainly would love to come back here in the future. Rwanda has been my favorite country so far, with Uganda close behind. My list of places to come back to is growing!!!

Rehungeri. Rwanda

We drove into Rwanda yesterday and I can't say enough how amazed I am about this country. The immigration point was intense, but other than that, the whole place has been mellow and delightful. the people are very nice, the place is safe, there is no garbage, the hills are lush and green and covered in a patchwork of farmed land. it would be wonderful to see it forested, but the people here seem fairly steady and employment looks to be high. outside of it's horrible history, it's almost a hollywood version on what Africa is. definitely not like tanzania where we saw tons of people sitting around all day without work.

We are staying at this clean, relaxing spot that appears to be part of a seminary. since the dorms cost the same as camping, we have beds for a few nights, which feels wonderful. it's quite cool here and rains for about an hour in the afternoon. today we have a free day, nothing planned, so we walked through some markets. yesterday we were rushed by school kids who just wanted to talk and hold our hands. well one kid asked for money (in kiyarwandan so we didnt understand except for the outstretched hand) and then they all chimed in and it got a little crazy. but we said a firm no to the one that started it and they all stopped and mellowed out again. other than that, people really leave you alone besides an occasional "mizunga" (white person) heard. everyplace else people just harrass you for money or to sell you something or other.

i really love it so far and am so glad we came. we are going to have a local lunch with the whole group then check out some caves that people used to escape the genocide. now they just use it to get from one place to another. the place is amazingly resilient. then we get up early for gorillas :)

i wasnt sure i liked this budget overland tour style, and i wouldnt do it for a really long time like these other kids (8 wks so far coming all the way from Cape Town), but it really works out well for us for a short term. we know where food and accomodation are coming from every night, and we have a safe place for our belongings. it also helped to have our tour leader wade through the chaos of immigration at the border. worth the money. as long as we can keep the peace with the other travelers (two girls are a little snippy and bitchy) all will be good...

Overlander to Rwanda

Last night Nathalie and I met up with our Overlander tour. There are 7 others plus a driver and tour leader to this huge, new, garrishly yellow overlander bus. Basically it just takes us from point to point where we have the option of doing trips. We drove 9 hrs today (which wasnt so bad since we have tons of room) from Kampala to Kibale, heading to Rwanda to see the mtn gorillas this Sunday! The others are very nice, all from UK or Australia, and the setup seems very chill. We camp at night in fairly spacious tents and cook meals on a rotating basis. Since the trips are all optional, you can add as much or as little to your trip as you'd like. Most of this group has been on since Cape Town for a total of 8 wks. That's more than I could handle I think. It's a pretty good deal and relaxing in that you don't have to haggle for rooms or be lost on buses or worry about basically anything. It's a good option for the next few weeks. Nothing much else to share right now. Uganda is really wonderful: lush, green, hilly with very nice people. Kibale is hotter and dustier than Kampala though. And I think Rwanda will be even better :)

Kampala

After avoiding sunburn and surviving the extreme heat of Zanzibar (it was phenomenal though and I want to go back...) we flew to Entebbe and took a taxi up to Kampala. We flew Air Uganda which was surprisingly nice, and empty. They even fed us even though it was only a 2 hr flight. Puts US airlines to shame.

Anywho, Uganda is a totally different experience from Tanzania, and honestly I prefer it greatly. First thing, almost everyone speaks English. Di had mentioned this to us, that Tanzania had refused to teach English in school, and the country suffers greatly from that. It is fairly shocking though to have all these black Africans (ie not ex-pats or travelers) come up to you speaking almost perfect English. Uganda is so much more sane and organized and the people friendlier and don't seem to be trying to screw you out of your money all the time. Of course they probably are, but it doesnt feel that way...which is refreshing.

The temperature is also much cooler. Definitely humid but very manageable. And the nights aren't offensively warm. Nathalie and I are about to do this long camping safari, which I dont think we couldve handled in the Tanzanian heat. I forgot my camera today which sucks, as this is the first connection fast enough for me to upload some of my last few weeks' pictures. Just be ready for about 2,000 photos come July when I'm home.

So tonight we meet with our camping safari guides and tomorrow we head off for Queen Elizabeth park. We can't tell if the safari is just us or if there are others too. Either way it should be amazing. There will be lots of animal viewing (including chimps and gorillas) and some white water rafting in the next week. Such awesome stuff. Can't wait!!

Kilimanjaro....and now Zanzibar!!!!

Ok so I've been down from Kili for a few days and just now have the desire to write about it. It was awesome in a challenging "glad I did it" way, but it was long and uncomfortable and just a huge bitch honestly.

Nathalie and I did the 6 day Machame option, because it was cheapest, and it turned out to be a very difficult choice. It's a faster option and you do more trekking up and down to get used to the altitude. We camped the whole time which was fine, but got increasingly colder as we got increasingly dirtier and more exhausted. I felt up to it physically but suffered a brutal altitude headache the third day that had me wanting to quit. The landscape went from tropical to arid, with a certain nuclear blast look going on the fourth and fifth day. The summit itself came midnight the fifth day - 6 hrs up to the top, and 2.5 hrs down (which was way more brutal than the ascent). Nathalie did an amazing job considering she had a few non-helpful factors - broken toe, diarrhea, asthma.

Just a quick note - before I headed off from the summit - a fellow South African climber made the following remark. "No offense, but if you can do it (a female) it shouldn't be too hard." It was certainly delightful to pass his old ass while heading up the mountain and summit a good 30 minutes ahead of him. Ego is a great motivating factor :)

Alright, so after we got down we spent a very fun night back at the hotel and met some wonderful South Africans (the aforementioned was part of the group and wasn't such an ass later). After that we set off by bus to Dar es Salaam where we met Meg Nelson from JGI, had a fun night with her, then ferried off to Zanzibar this morning. We met Di here and had a lovely lunch overlooking the water and have since been laying out, swimming, enjoying cocktails, and wandering the beach in search of dinner. On that not I will bid farewell and get back to this hard life :) Love to you all!!!

in Moshi...and off to Mt Kilimanjaro tomorrow!!!

So today we left Arusha which was a huge relief. It's just noisy and nasty there. Anywho, we hopped on a shuttle to Moshi and were dropped off directly at our hotel. It's quite luxurious in comparison to everything we've stayed at so far, which is really worth it. We are about to have dinner and then take off tomorrow morning. We are doing the Machame trail whish is difficult but I think we can hack it. Wish us luck!!! Back in 6 days :)

Arusha, Lake Manyara and Ngorogoro

So I'd like to note that right now I'm in that rushed travel mode so getting onlineis a bit of a challenge. And downloading pics even moreso. Sucks. Anywho, Nathalie and I hopped a very bumpy hot shuttle to Arusha where we were met by everyone and their mom trying to selling us something. This place is exhausting...always needing to be "on". But we hooked up and awesome safari for two days to Lake Manyara and Ngorogoro Crater. It was gorgeous, tons of animals...which I have amazing photos of - lions, cheetah, hyena, elephants, wildebeest, rhino. Everything! They were very close in both places - had an amusing incident with a baby elephant that got surprised by our car when we got a bit away from her mom. she did a lot of backing up, trunk raising, running, getting stuck, running. Very amazing. And we saw lions after a kill in Ngoro, resting and stretching their big bellies. The landscape in Ngoro was stunning. Now we are tying uploose ends and taking another shuttle to Moshi. We start Kili tomorrow so wish us luck! Should be awesome. Could definitely use some time to stretch my legs (vs shuttles and safari rides). Then Zanzibar to relax. Can't wait!!! Will work on the photo situation :)

in Nairobi

So this morning I stumbled off my Virgin Atlantic flight, through immigration and officially onto African soil. I had a bit of a delay gathering my checked bag (because I'm stupid) but immediately found Di and we headed off through the park on our way to her house. The park is slightly surreal in that you see giraffes, eland, zebra, bufallo, etc. with the backdrop of Nairobi's sprawl on the horizon. I have more great pictures which would kill Di's computer if I tried uploading them. I think that will come to be a bit of a challenge moving forward but so be it. I opted to open a flickr account where you can see all my photos. Just go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdichiara/.

Ok so we drove to Di's gorgeous home in what she called "Africa-lite." It's a suburban, gated, highly expatriate area on the outskirts of the city. But it's idyllic and calm and safe and certain;ly beats the stress and noise and crazy of Nairobi. We dropped off some stuff and stopped in an orphaned elephant sanctuary. I promise to have those pictures soon. So precious, especially watching them play. There was also a two month old black rhino which strongly resembled ET. Just amazing stuff. Their animal "adoption" and fundraising program through tourist visits seemed very functional. Good example for some other non-profits...ahem. Anyway, after that we did some brief shopping to grab some food at a supermarket (almost equivalent to what we have at home) and a phone. I'll get a SIM card once I get to Tanzania since I won't be in Kenya for very long. Di went back to work for a few hours so I'm about to wash up, nap, read and then head into the city for dinner and then a drive to the airport for Nathalie. It's so lovely so far...10 hrs in. Tomorrow we catch an early bus to Arusha to do some safariing before Kilimanjaro. Will keep you posted and hopefully have some more photos soon!